Egypt partners with Google to promote 'unmatched diversity' tourism campaign    Golf Festival in Cairo to mark Arab Golf Federation's 50th anniversary    Taiwan GDP surges on tech demand    World Bank: Global commodity prices to fall 17% by '26    Germany among EU's priciest labour markets – official data    UNFPA Egypt, Bayer sign agreement to promote reproductive health    Egypt to boost marine protection with new tech partnership    France's harmonised inflation eases slightly in April    Eygpt's El-Sherbiny directs new cities to brace for adverse weather    CBE governor meets Beijing delegation to discuss economic, financial cooperation    Egypt's investment authority GAFI hosts forum with China to link business, innovation leaders    Cabinet approves establishment of national medical tourism council to boost healthcare sector    Egypt's Gypto Pharma, US Dawa Pharmaceuticals sign strategic alliance    Egypt's Foreign Minister calls new Somali counterpart, reaffirms support    "5,000 Years of Civilizational Dialogue" theme for Korea-Egypt 30th anniversary event    Egypt's Al-Sisi, Angola's Lourenço discuss ties, African security in Cairo talks    Egypt's Al-Mashat urges lower borrowing costs, more debt swaps at UN forum    Two new recycling projects launched in Egypt with EGP 1.7bn investment    Egypt's ambassador to Palestine congratulates Al-Sheikh on new senior state role    Egypt pleads before ICJ over Israel's obligations in occupied Palestine    Sudan conflict, bilateral ties dominate talks between Al-Sisi, Al-Burhan in Cairo    Cairo's Madinaty and Katameya Dunes Golf Courses set to host 2025 Pan Arab Golf Championship from May 7-10    Egypt's Ministry of Health launches trachoma elimination campaign in 7 governorates    EHA explores strategic partnership with Türkiye's Modest Group    Between Women Filmmakers' Caravan opens 5th round of Film Consultancy Programme for Arab filmmakers    Fourth Cairo Photo Week set for May, expanding across 14 Downtown locations    Egypt's PM follows up on Julius Nyerere dam project in Tanzania    Ancient military commander's tomb unearthed in Ismailia    Egypt's FM inspects Julius Nyerere Dam project in Tanzania    Egypt's FM praises ties with Tanzania    Egypt to host global celebration for Grand Egyptian Museum opening on July 3    Ancient Egyptian royal tomb unearthed in Sohag    Egypt hosts World Aquatics Open Water Swimming World Cup in Somabay for 3rd consecutive year    Egyptian Minister praises Nile Basin consultations, voices GERD concerns    Paris Olympic gold '24 medals hit record value    A minute of silence for Egyptian sports    Russia says it's in sync with US, China, Pakistan on Taliban    It's a bit frustrating to draw at home: Real Madrid keeper after Villarreal game    Shoukry reviews with Guterres Egypt's efforts to achieve SDGs, promote human rights    Sudan says countries must cooperate on vaccines    Johnson & Johnson: Second shot boosts antibodies and protection against COVID-19    Egypt to tax bloggers, YouTubers    Egypt's FM asserts importance of stability in Libya, holding elections as scheduled    We mustn't lose touch: Muller after Bayern win in Bundesliga    Egypt records 36 new deaths from Covid-19, highest since mid June    Egypt sells $3 bln US-dollar dominated eurobonds    Gamal Hanafy's ceramic exhibition at Gezira Arts Centre is a must go    Italian Institute Director Davide Scalmani presents activities of the Cairo Institute for ITALIANA.IT platform    







Thank you for reporting!
This image will be automatically disabled when it gets reported by several people.



Honeymoon over
Published in Al-Ahram Weekly on 09 - 10 - 2008

No longer will Russia be directed by the West, writes El-Sayed Amin Shalabi*
To many, the Russian-Western conflict over Georgia came as no surprise. Throughout Tsarist and Soviet times, Russians have eyed the West with suspicion. Often, proponents of Westernisation were accused of betraying Russian traditions, as happened when Peter the Great experimented with modernisation back in the 17th century.
Fast forward to 1991, when the Soviet Union was replaced with the Russian Federation, and many in the West thought that the new Russian leaders would take their cue from the West. Their expectations were soon dashed, partly because things in Russia didn't turn out as expected. Russia's economic reform programme didn't go as well as many had hoped. And the country's democratisation failed to match the Western pattern.
But Russians were eager to stay on good terms with the West. From 1992 to 1994, Andrei Kozyrev, foreign minister under Boris Yeltsin, solicited economic assistance from Western nations, while pursuing policies that were designed to please the country's new benefactors.
Concurring with Pushkin's conclusion that hatred of the West is but a manifestation of a deeper resentment of human evolution, Kozyrev pushed on to remove all vestiges of the Cold War. Eager to persuade the West that Russia was a trustworthy partner, he agreed to a major reduction in Russian nuclear weapons, signed SALT II, and refrained from using vetoes to block certain UN Security Council resolutions. During the Bosnian crisis, Moscow even voted for sanctions against its former allies, the Serbs. That's how far the Russians wanted to please the West, but then the domestic backlash started.
Near the end of 1993, Russian opposition started accusing the government of selling out to the West, turning its back on Russia's old friends, and squandering the country's international prestige -- all for the crumbs of Western financial aid. The fact that the Russian economy suffered from the economic sanctions against countries such as Iraq, Libya and Serbia strengthened the hand of the opposition.
The critics seemed to have a point. Russian economic reforms were stumbling, living standards were eroding, and crime was on the rise. With Yeltsin's government catching flak on more than one front, Kozyrev had to think of something. Soon, he started contradicting Russia's Western allies, arguing that partnership with the West must not come at the expense of Russia's national interests. He even told his European interlocutors that "aggressive nationalists" might take over unless he stood tough. When he was finally replaced in 1996, a dyed-in-the-wool nationalist, Yevgeny Primakov, took his place.
Since Vladimir Putin took power in 2000, his main aim was to restore Russia's international prestige and reverse the humiliating course the country had taken throughout the 1990s. Russia may be a member of the G8 group and a partner of sorts with NATO and the EU, but it wasn't going to be told what to do -- or not anymore.
As NATO and the EU made inroads into East Europe and the Baltic republics, Putin found it harder to keep his cool. To him, Western support of the "orange revolutions" in Ukraine and Georgia was unacceptable, a reminder even of the Cold War. When the Georgian government sent its troops into South Ossetia, Putin and his handpicked successor, Dmitri Medvedev, saw their chance. They lashed out militarily against Georgia, then recognised the independence of both South Ossetia and Abkhazia. When the West protested, the Russians refused to back down.
Moscow's gamble has worked so far. Western politicians, including French Prime Minister Bernard Kouchner, ruled out sanctions against Russia. The fact that 25 per cent of Europe's needs of oil and gas come from Russia and that Europe has extensive investment in that country must have something to do with Europe's self-restraint.
Even the US has refrained from escalating the crisis, no doubt mindful that the supply lines for its troops in Afghanistan went through Russia and that it needs Russian titanium for its aviation industry.
Putin and Medvedev, having ruled out a resurgence of the Cold War, have promised to continue supplying Europe with oil and gas and do their bit in the war on terror. But the honeymoon between the West and Russia is over. Moscow has made it clear that it will continue to cooperate with the West, but on its own terms now.
* The writer is executive director of the Egyptian Council for Foreign Relations.


Clic here to read the story from its source.